4R Farm Equine-Assisted Counseling

11/08/2025

Good morning! We made it to the weekend! Maybe you’re on the deer stand or at a horse show today. Maybe you’re planning to watch your favorite college team play football. Whatever you’re doing, take some time to take care of yourself. Recreation and rest are both important aspects of mental health.

11/03/2025

Things we get excited about: submitting an entry for a major horse show. We go to some great shows every year, but Fort Worth is our favorite. Let the countdown start!

11/01/2025

We took a stroll through the Brookhollow neighborhood in Lufkin last night. The horses were a big hit with the trick-or-treaters! 🎃

10/30/2025

Good morning! It finally feels like Fall! On this crisp morning, the sun is just coming up over the tops of the trees and the horses turn broadside to it to soak up the warm rays.

10/26/2025

When you’re looking for a healthcare professional, whether it’s a new P*P or a specialist of some kind, you want to know they are qualified, right? When you’re looking for an equine-assisted therapist, there are two qualifications you need to consider. First, you want to make sure the therapist is licensed by their state’s health department to practice in their field (mental health, physical therapy, etc). Then you want to know how much actual experience they have with horses. Believe it or not, there are way too many people out there who dodge the truth about their “equine therapy” credentials. Not at 4R Farm!

Mr. Rush has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since October 5, 1998 (TX LPC 15106). Also, he started showing horses as a kid in 1982 and has been training horses and teaching riding lessons since 1993. Currently, he trains horses for Versatility Ranch Horse competitions.

His daughter, Cora, has shown the 4R horses, starting with Bradshaw several years ago. Here’s Cora and Banjo with the ribbons they won at two shows in September and October.

We are here to help your child with mental, emotional, and behavioral issues. Yes, we’re qualified.

10/25/2025

The Mighty (and mighty lovable) Bradshaw!

10/19/2025

But first, you must be trustworthy.

10/09/2025

To provide some balance, I would like to point out that not all of KTRE's reporting is bad. Brooke Dearing did a really nice piece on 4R Farm that aired back in July. I think perhaps the recent article on ADHD was thrown together too quickly.

“Equine-assisted therapy and other equine-assisted services are just becoming wildly popular everywhere,” Rush says.

10/09/2025

Just to further clarify our position on the recent piece aired on KTRE/KLTV.

10/08/2025

Y'all, I just want to clarify that I am not happy about this article from KTRE. First, at the start of the interview, I stated that my professional credentials are "LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor." I am not a psychologist and I am not a psychiatrist. Second, I never, ever, at any point stated that "medication is the most viable treatment option." I told the interviewer that research clearly states that a "multi-modal approach, including therapy, parent training, and possibly medication" is the best approach. I am going to include a link to the article just because the horses are so dang cute, but please understand that this is NOT a good article about ADHD.

October is ADHD awareness month, and ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that, according to the CDC, affects 11% of children in the us, and 6% of adults.